There is a war brewing in France. And I’m not only talking about the war between the police and the motley crew of Nuit Deboutfolk on the Place de la République (although that is still in full swing). No, I’m talking about the perceived war on the French language.

It started out innocently enough. An article here or there noting that the French increasingly use English words in their vocabulary. A little asterisk on the bottom of billboards to provide a French translation of any English words used (to comply with the Loi Toubon). Take this example from the current Galeries Lafayette advertising campaign in the metro:

*In case of doubt, Out of office = Hors du bureau

But lately the anti-Anglais sentiment has escalated into an all-out war. Take, for example, this video that the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (the French media regulator) released in March to mark La journée de la langue française et de la francophonie, which mocks people who use too many English words. Or these examples from the newsstand this week:

100 Anglicisms to never use again! It’s so much better in French…French Language: STOP THE MASSACRE! Dramatic much?

Living and working in Paris, I have to say that I have noticed the infiltration of these anglicismes. And, somewhat ironically I’ll admit, I do find myself using them more and more. In discussions with French friends I find myself referring to a hot new restaurant being “surbooké“, or to a particular style being “has been” (with ze French accent, bien sûr). Around the office it is even worse. I will ask my boss to “checker” my draft, then I will “forwarder” it to him for his OK, before finally I will “shooter l’email” to the client.Mostof the time I know that there is a French equivalent I could use perfectly easily, but for some reason I don’t.

Luckily, help is at hand. The Academie Française, founded in 1635, is tasked with the very solemn mission of protecting the French language and being the custodian of its dictionary. The threat of the English invasion is not new for the immortels, i.e. the 40 members of the Academie who are, upon their admission, decked out with a green habit and personalized sword (yes, that’s right and it’s pretty damn badass if you ask me). As globalization has taken hold, so too has the English language. But fear not – with a wave of the sword, the Academie can transform even the most unsightly English word into a pretty French one or, failing that, suggest an appropriate French substitution.

For this purpose, the Academie have a very handy “do’s and don’ts” section of their website called Dire, Ne Pas Dire (Say, Do Not Say),with a section dedicated specifically to those pesky Néologismes & anglicismes:

Here, you learn that instead of “Conf call” you should say “conférence téléphonique“, instead of “Deadline” you should say “dernier délai” andinstead of “off the record” you should say “hors micro“. However, if the Academie cannot find a suitable substitution, rather than capitulate it simply banishes the word entirely. Such was the verdict for “borderline” (“Rien de ce qu’évoque le mot Borderline n’est possible à exprimer en termes simples et clairs. On se dispensera donc de l’employer.” / “It is impossible to express the word Borderline in simple and clear terms. We will thus dispense with it.“). The same fate awaited “burn-out” and “must have“.

Particularly troublesome are words associated with technology and business (or the corporate world generally), which are notoriously hard to translate. A rare success story is the transformation of “email” into “courriel” (i.e., courrier (mail) + eléctronique). Recent attempts include replacing “smiley” with “frimousse“, “spam” with “arrosage” and “hashtag” with “mot-dièse“. Sadly I just can’t see these catching on. Vocabulary moves fast – even more so in this viral age of Twitter and mot-dièses – and once a word garners enough popular usage it is very difficult to convince people to stop using it.

Certain English words, however, do pass by the gatekeepers of the Academie. However, they tend to do so in the weirdest and most wonderful ways. For example, the word “footing” has been accepted as a substitute for “running” or “jogging”. The only problem is, Anglophones don’t actually say “footing“. Other examples (very few of which have actually been approved by the Academie, mind you) include “shooting” for photo shoot (though I still don’t dare to put #shooting on my Instagram photos), “relooking” for makeover and “brushing” for blow-dry. Although this takes some getting used to, it is kind of genius as it takes an otherwise banal English word and puts a very French twist on it.

The problem is, French people actually like to pepper their dialogue with English words. Especially in Paris, in recent years there has been a growing obsession with all things New Yorkais and particularly all things Brooklyn-esque. This has been happening – at least on the Right Bank (Rive Droite)– since I arrived in Paris nearly six years ago. But I knew things had reached a whole new level when, late last year, I saw this advertisement in the metro for the grocery section of the super-posh Left Bank department storeLe Bon Marché:

Guy with beard AND handlebar moustache AND beanie/bonnet AND sailor tattoos AND band-aids (meaning he is a hospo guy who works in a cool speakeasy serving tacos DUH) eats hot dog. So Brooklyn.

Ze hipsters and their Anglophone ways have hit the Rive Gauche. Nothing is sacred. This can only mean the further proliferation of cafés with English-speaking staff serving avocado toast, flat whites and cold-pressed juices. The immortels at the Academie need to catch on fast and give us some Frenchified versions of “fixie“, “aeropress” and “food truck“, before it is too late.

Like this:

Most non-Parisians know about the soldes (sales) in Paris. What they don’t know about, at least when they first arrive, is the ventes privées (private sales).

I know that when I first arrived in Paris, I would often see queues of well-dressed women lining up outside random, non-marked doors in the marais and be intrigued. Being naturally nosycurious, I once sidled up and asked someone what was going on. Was there a celebrity inside? “Non, c’est une vente privée.” “Ah oui”, I feigned comprehension. And how does one access these private sales? “Il faut avoir une invitation” (you need an invitation). Of course. Just when I thought I was getting the trick of the soldes, the French had to go and add another echelon of exclusivity on top. As I watched the women emerge from the sale with non-branded white shopping bags, no doubt full of tastefully selected bargains, I knew I had to get in – and I had to get in fast.

If there’s a queue it must be good

First, a bit about the regular soldes. These can only take place twice a year, as regulated by law. Let there be no doubt, the French take their shopping seriously. The Code de Commerceprovides that soldes can only occur during two six-week periods each year, the dates of which are fixed by décret (decree). In practice, the winter sales (les soldes d’hiver) take place from early January until mid-February and the summer sales (les soldes d’été) take place from mid-June until early August.

There’s a bit to know about the soldes. First, you need to know that there are several waves of mark-downs (démarques). When the sales first start you have the première démarque, which is the initial mark-down. Then, you have the deuxième démarque, when the clothes that were originally only marked down 20% might fall to 30% or even 50% off. Then, in the final days of the soldes, you have the troisème (or often dernière) démarque, when you get the real bargains and prices can drop as low as 60%-70% off.

Working the démarques is a bit like gambling. Often, I’ll eye a piece that I like from one of my favourite (but ridiculously over-priced) brands in the nouvelle collection when it comes out. Then, I’ll bide my time until the soldes. In the first démarque it might drop by only 20%. The question then becomes whether you snap it up or hold out for the next démarque (and thus take the risk that it might sell out in your size in the interim). Sometimes, I’ll just casually ask when the next démarque is happening and whether the piece will be further discounted.

If you get an honest shop assistant they’ll tell you “Ça commence lundi et ce sera à -50%” (“It starts on Monday and that will be -50%”). Other times, you’ll get the shop assistant who will pretend not to know, or who will immediately say that it’s the last one in that size so you’d better buy it, etc. (An insider tip I learnt recently to deal with this dilemma: at some shops such as maje, they write the number of pieces left in that size on the tag of the item in pencil. Gone are the days of the faux-threat of the “last one left”, only to find that they magically roll out more in the next démarque!).

For enterprising commerçants, there are a few loopholes in the strictly regulated soldes system. For example, shop owners are permitted to have exceptional, off-season soldes if they are suspending their operations temporarily, for example for renovations (“Liquidation avant travaux”). However, they do need to make a declaration to the Mayor’s office of their intention to do so. Like I said, shopping (or rather, discounting) is serious business in France.

Another loophole of sorts is the pre-soldes that some boutiques hold in-store in the lead-up to the soldes. If ever you go into a store and see little round coloured stickers on the tags of the clothing, that means there is a secret pre-solde happening. Like some kind of unspoken code, the different coloured stickers represent different levels of mark-down. For example, gold may mean -20%, silver -30%, etc. However, a red sticker – bizarrely, in my mind – almost always means no mark-down.

This leads us to the world of vente privées (or VPs). VPs are traditionally the private sales that brands put on for their regular customers. Although some of the more prestigious brands still put on their own private sales, many brands now use a service-provider to put on VPs. Basically, the brands give their surplus stock to the service-provider who organizes VPs in spaces around Paris. Any stock that does not sell in the 2-3 days that the sale lasts is returned to the brand. A few years ago it was Adèle Sand or Catherine Max that provided these services. These have now been re-grouped under the umbrella of Arlettie, which puts on a VP in Paris for a different brand every week of the year (except for August, when even the bargain-hunters go on holidays).

Once signed up to Arlettie’s über-exclusive database, you will then receive emails like this:

All you have to do is present yourself at the designated time and place (Arlettie has two spaces in Paris, one in the marais near Bastille and the other at Trocadéro) with your invite and your ID. But then of course there is the mandatory queue out the front, complete with security guards, before finally you gain access.

Feelin’ like VIPs doing the VPs

Once inside, working these vente privées is a veritable skill in itself.

I learnt everything that I know about VPs from my beloved friend Cléa. A true Parisienne, Cléa knows exactly how to work the VPs like no other. I remember going to the Tara Jarmon VP with her (one of my first VPs) a few years ago. It was in a two-level atelier in the marais. Cléa and I did a lap of the ground floor and then made our way up to second floor, which was effectively just an amphitheater-style balcony that looked down on the ground floor. Cléa looked over the balcony at the shoppers below. “What are you doing?” I asked. “I’m watching”, she said, “to see what people are buying.” Once she saw which pieces were moving, she swooped.

Cléa has the golden touch of VPs. We can walk around for 20 minutes and I will see nothing. I will give up. Suddenly, out of nowhere Cléa will pluck the amazing piece that nobody has seen yet from a pile of sad-looking items (at the Sequoia sale a few years ago it was an amazing blue leather tote). Within minutes, other shoppers will ask in what part of the room she found it, whether there were others, etc. As Cléa taught me, that’s when you know you’re onto a winner and you don’t let it go.

A contrario, if you see another shopper with a piece you want in her hand, you NEVER ask her where she found it or if there are any left. This will only convince her that it’s a winner. Instead, you should follow her at a distance and pray that she puts it down. When she does, you strike.

VP jungle in full swing

Despite learning these tricks from the very best, I have so far only ended up with a series of duds from my dabblings in the private sales. Lowlights include a yellow polka dot skirt that I have never worn and a maje dress with unfortunately placed frills on the sleeves. The cruelty of the maje VP is that you are not allowed to try the clothes on (and of course there is a no returns policy across VPs generally). Thus, I didn’t realize the frills would make me look like an extra from the Pirates of Penzance until I got home and tried it on.

#piratefauxpas

Luckily at most VPs you can try the clothes on, but on the flip side there are no change rooms. So you see women huddled in any free space they can find in all stages of undress (while other, more modest types try tops on over dresses, pants under skirts, etc.) and then jostling for the limited mirror space that is available. Pas très élégant, but it gets the job done.

Needless to say, just as I had finally figured out the tricks of the ventes privées I learnt about another, even more exclusive echelon of sales – the ventes presse (press sales). These are supposedly reserved for journalists and other fashion types and allow even earlier access to the sale items. This is my next challenge – I just need to convince someone to give me a press badge!

There are lots of celebrities in Paris. They like it here, or so people say, because people “act cool” and give them their space. Presumably, Parisians are so busy themselves trying to act cool and nonchalant that they wouldn’t dare whip out their smart phones, stop and stare or just freak out generally when they see a celebrity in the vicinity.

Everyone has a story about the time they saw a celebrity in Paris. Several friends have seen Natalie Portman working out at the “chic and exclusive” l’Usine gym (she has been living here on-and-off while her husband Benjamin Millepied has been heading the Paris Ballet, although not for much longer). The Wilson brothers are also frequently sighted here (more of that below), as well as the usual fashion pack suspects during pfw (Anna Wintour, various Kardashian/Jenners, etc.).

The prize for the best celebrity-spotting story among my friends goes to Patrick and Katya, founders of Paris’s most popular picnic delivery service Paris Picnic, who were playing mölkky with friends a few summers ago in the Jardin de Luxembourg when a guy strolled over and asked if he could play with them. They said yes, of course, and it turned out it was none other than White Men Can’t Jump star Woody Harrelson. They played a few rounds with him and had some beers, no big deal. They proved themselves to be true Parisians.

Unfortunately the “act cool when you see a celebrity” rule is one that I personally have a lot of trouble respecting. I get very easily star struck. It first happened when I saw Toadfish Rebecchi from Neighbours at the Races back in 1999 and it has gone downhill from there.

Who wouldn’t swoon for this guy? (Photo credit: Channel 10)

My first celebrity sighting in Paris happened a few years ago. I was out to dinner at the Mini Palais (a restaurant inside the Grand Palais, which has a particularly lovely terrasse in the summertime) when Will Smith walked in. Lucky for Will, he was a far distance away from me (and I was dining with two non-star struck Parisians), so I couldn’t cause much damage. But I was surprised how the people in the restaurant just went about their dîner as usual. Didn’t they want to take a picture? Didn’t they want to yell out “Yo, home to Bel-Air”?

You got away this time, Will (Photo credit: NBC)

Then there was the time I saw Owen Wilson at Bob’s Kitchen in rue des Gravilliers. He was just chilling out by himself – mere meters from me – having a bowl of vegetarian goodness. Everyone was acting so cool, nobody was freaking out but I was inwardly losing it and could not stop staring at that crooked yet-oh-so handsome nose of his. Again, I managed to keep it together and resisted my urge to take a photo. There was hope for me yet!

So crooked, yet so hot right now (Photo credit: Paramount)

Another time my boyfriend and I were going for a romantic dinner at the wonderfully awesome Septime. When we arrived, we were guided to a table in a row of tables that were very close together. We saw another, better table for two closer to the window and asked if we could have that. We got the table and only moments later Romain Duris (of L’Augbere Espagnole fame) walked in and took the table we had turned down. Lucky for me, he was seated within my field of vision so I could stare intently at him throughout the meal (#sorrynotsorry, boyfriend). I swear we made eye contact on several occasions. Or maybe it was just that he looked in my general direction and could not avoid my hawk-like gaze. Either way, we connected.

And recently I had my first celebrity double-whammy when I saw Gwyneth Paltrow walking down rue des Capucines in the 1st arrondisement and then, not ten minutes later, Luke Wilson getting a velib out the front of the Mandarin Oriental on rue Saint Honoré. Coincidence? I think not!

Hey Baumer! All right! (Photo credit: Touchstone)

I have also had the pleasure of seeing some Australian “celebrities” around Paris who are genuinely enjoying their anonymity because nobody actually has any clue who they are. (**WARNING: The next few paragraphs require at least basic notions of the world of B-grade Australian celebrities**).

First there was the time I saw Gold Logie award-winning Karl “Laugh a Minute” Stefanovic in the street in the11th. I immediately unleashed my celebrity stalker side and went right up and said “Hi Karl!” and started talking to/at him like I knew him (because of course I feel like I do). Poor Karl began awkwardly laughing and backing away from me. But hey, I still got him laughing.

Another time I was lunching at Chez Janou (a fun “provinçial“-style bistro near the Place des Vosges known for its bottomless bowls of chocolate mousse) with my family who were visiting from Australia. I saw a woman sitting inside who reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t think of who (was it someone from the Aussie kids’ show Play School? The 7.30 report? Someone from my primary school’s mum?). Both my mum and my sister couldn’t figure it out, either. It was only when my brother-in-law went to take a peep that we realized it was the former Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh.

I also enjoy stalking supporting Australian musicians who come to Paris. Often they do not have as big of a fan base here as they do in Australia (with some exceptions such as Tina Arena, who randomly has a bigger following here than in Oz) so they play smaller, more intimate venues. Perfect for stalking supporting. I have been known to stake out Boy & Bear at the end of many a gig. Last time I even got them to sign a record for me with only minimal levels of awkward laughter and backing away.

But my most notorious – and ongoing – celebrity sighting relationship goes to Pharrell Williams. I first saw him in the street in the haut marais on a dusky Sunday evening a few years ago. He was walking towards me with one or two other people – no crowd, no entourage – and by the time I realized it was him he had already passed me. It turns out he was in town for his expo G I R L at the Galerie Perrotin. As soon as he was gone I immediately cursed myself for not taking a picture, saying hello, singing “Happy”, generally going cray, etc.

So, I was only too happy (genuinely no pun intended) to see him recently at colette. I was lunching with a girlfriend when a buzz went through the room. Even the über-cool pfw crowd seemed to be excited about whoever had just walked in. Believe it or not a few smart phones even came out, including my girlfriend’s who snapped this pic of the two of us:

My intimate lunch date with Pharrell

When it came time to leave, I knew it was my chance. All of the rules about acting cool went out the window and I tried to take a photo as we were leaving via the elevator (right next to his table). Alas, I was promptly shut-down by the waiter who told me “pas de photo“. But I did make eye contact with Pharrell and mouthed “Sorry” to him (as did my girlfriend). In response he gave a smile and bowed with his hands together like the Japanese folded hands emoji. It was obviously love. And it showed me that, at least on this front, I’ve got a long way to go before turning Parisian.

*Shout out for this blog idea to my posse of celebrity-loving not-so Parisian friends, who get as excited as I do about celebrity sightings (Camille, Sara, Kees, Beth, Leah and Sophie) xx

As anyone who has spent some time in Paris will know, dogs have a special place in Parisian society. Most striking is the way that dogs accompany their owners to places usually exclusively reserved for humans, such as restaurants, shops and public transport.

Sure, we have all seen the exaggerated version of this cliché in films and TV shows, but there is a difference between seeing Carrie Bradshaw propped up beside a drooling Mastiff in a fancy tea salon and actually seeing how Parisian dogs trot about town on a daily basis.

Excuse me, but I believe this is a non-smoking area? (Photo credit: HBO)

When you see a dog attablé in a restaurant for the first time (note: I recently acquired the fabulous verb attabler, meaning to be seated at a table), it may come as a bit of a surprise. Like this little guy (an adorable teckel à poil dur), who I spottedjust casually sitting up after dinner at the super cute Bistro Ernest:

Qui prend un digestif ?

Far from his usual hobbies of chasing wild boars (sangliers) and digging holes but seemingly not bothered by it, this little teckel was more interested in deciding whether to have a dessert or just take the café gourmand (“C’est plus léger, non ?”). This was a truly Parisian dog.

Where I come from, dogs are not allowed in restaurants. When I was home in Melbourne for Christmas recently, I was shocked that a café would not even let my dog sit on the terrasse out front of the restaurant, citing “Health and Safety regulations”. Instead my poor pooch, much to his horror, had to be tied up on the other side of the footpath.

Sorry, but I actually ordered a soy latté?

Why are things different in Paris? One reason for the heightened canine presence (and acceptance) might be the size of peoples’ apartments. When your doggy is cooped up in a 30m2 apartment all day (and with no backyard), it’s only natural that you would want to take him out and show him the town. Hence the presence of pooches in shops, offices, hair/nail salons, and everywhere in between.

Which way to the ladies’ shoe department?I’m a gonna get my nails did

But dogs don’t have free rein over the city, either. Rather, as I learned from chatting with a dog-owner recently, dogs are, somewhat ironically, banned from a majority of the city’s parks and green spaces. This might be another reason why they are allowed just about everywhere else.

NO happily jaunting with your dog, NO feeding the ducks and NO walking on the grass (can’t you see it is sleeping for the Winter, YOU IMBECILE?!)

Why the ban in parks? Well, from the dog-owners I have spoken to it seems to be the related to the petit problème of dogs doing their business. This seems like a plausible explanation. Parisian gardens are so beautiful, perfectly symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing, I can well imagine the authorities not wanting to tarnish that image with unsightly crottes de chien.

And let there be no doubt, the Parisian authorities feel strongly about this. The fine for not picking up after your pup, at least in theory, is up to 450 euro. To put that into perspective, that is ten times the fine for not having a valid metro ticket and nearly thirty times the fine for parkingyour car illegally (at the moment you face a fine of only 17 euro; this is set to rise, but apparently now not until after the next Presidential election, #France).

So the incentive is there (at least when it comes to poop scooping), but do Parisians actually respect the rules? Well, judging by the amount of crottes that litter the footpaths it seems not. And you do occasionally see dogs in the parks where they are supposed to be banned, like this adorable little rule-breaker Henri who I saw out strolling in the Place des Vosges:

#thuglife

I was told by Henri’s owner that if you break the rules and walk your dog in a garden where they are banned, you usually have around 7-10 minutes before the gardien (caretaker) of the garden comes and kicks you out. In theory you could also face a fine but, like lots of good French rules, it seems that this is rarely enforced.

As for public transport, Parisian dogs are allowed to travel on the metro if they pass the basket test. Basically, if you can fit your dog into a small bag or basket (panier) then he can travel with you. Just ask this little panier-sized guy, out for his morning commute in his raincoat:

Métro-Boulot-Dodo

Or this little one out riding the rails on a Saturday afternoon:

If you’re gonna put me in a basket it had better be pink!

The basket test also applies for SNCF trains outside of Paris, except the dog must also weigh 6kg or less (otherwise he has to be on a lead, muzzled and pay half the price of a regular ticket). A similar rule applies for Air France flights (the dog must weigh 8kg or less to travel in the cabin with you).

Now the French are famously tetchy when it comes to privacy and droit à l’image generally(literally, the right to control your “image”) – just ask the guy who is being sued by Jean-Marie Le Pen after snapping a selfie with him while he was snoozing on a flight from Paris to Nice. But not so when it comes to Parisians and their dogs. They are only too happy to have their pooches photographed and to parade them around until you get the perfect shot, as I discovered on a recent balade in the marais. After their posing efforts, it would be entirely remiss of me not to include them all here (and also they are just too damned cute not to be shared), so here we go:

All of this leads me to believe that my very photogenic dog Rory (pictured above avec latté), who is currently living in Melbourne, would love to live in Paris. He loves nothing more than sitting up at the table for the chats after a meal. He does not tolerate the company of other dogs, but instead prefers to hang with the human folk.

So there is no doubt in my mind that Rory would love la vie parisienne. He just needs to lose a few kg’s so he can fit into a small basket.

A few years ago I’m pretty sure I didn’t know that “pfw” stood for Paris Fashion Week. I had plenty of acronyms in my life but “pfw” (or indeed “fw” of any kind) just wasn’t one of them.

When you live in Paris for a while, this starts to change and you don’t really have any choice in the matter. Apparently the official “pfw” (Women’s Ready-to-Wear) takes place twice a year: once in February/March for the autumn/winter (A/W) collections and once in September/October for the spring/summer (S/S) collections. But then there’s men’s fashion week, haute couture fashion week and, as far as I can tell, a ton of other “fw”s in between.

All I know is that a fashion week of some kind or another seems to roll around surprisingly often and I usually don’t have any idea it has arrived until I start to notice the telltale signs.

This #ootd can only mean one thing: #pfw is here

At the outset I’d like to clarify that I do not claim to be a fashionista by any stretch. Quite the contrary: I’m more into the practical and the comfortable than the aesthetics (or “ze look“), which is entirely un-Parisian of me. For example, when it comes to footwear I have no shame shopping at Mephisto (hello Hush Puppies and Naturalizers), I wear compression stockings when I fly long distances and you’re more likely to find me discussing the virtues of comfortable shoes with ladies twice my age than shopping for Louboutins.

Another case in point: I recently bought a dressafter trying it out in the store, showing it to the (clearly disinterested) shop assistant and thinking I looked just great in it. But when I got it home and saw it on the website I realized that I’d tried it on backwards in the store (à la Sisters).

The only difference was that I actually bought the outfit #fashionfail (Photo Credit: Universal Pictures)

So all of that to say I do not consider myself to have any particular sartorial prowess. Also, I certainly don’t claim to know the ins and outs of the fashion industry (so my apologies in advance for any errors in this post).

But that does not mean I can’t spot the arrival of the pfw crowd a mile away.

First, you start to notice a sprinkling of tall, pale, Bambi-like girls in the metro or wandering the streets looking lost, presumably on their way to their next “go-see” (yes, I learnt this lingo from many well-spent years watching America’s Next Top Model – thank you mum and dad for the Foxtel subscription). I was surprised to learn at a dinner party recently that these go-sees (or “castings” as they seem to be called outside Tyra Banks’s kingdom) only take place a day or two before the show. The designer I spoke to told me that for her show they cast the models on the Monday for a show on the Wednesday. Why? Because before that the models are in Milan, before that London, before that New York, and so the merry-go-round of fashion weeks continues.

Next, you see the fashion “people” jaunting about town – the ones who are clearly not models but are part of the weird and wonderful fashion world (buyers, designers, publicists, etc.). They can often be observed flouncing around in the fancier arrondisements for fashion shows (popular locations include the Jardin des Tuilieries, the Louvre, Place Vendôme, Palais Royale and the Grand Palais), always with smart phone in hand, frequently in sunglasses and usually in black (but with some exceptions – cf. Spongebob Squarepants, above).

Fashion people gotta eat

They can also be spotted in the marais or Canal Saint Martin area for “showrooms”. From what I gather from discussing this with the same designer, “showrooming” involves renting a space, displaying the collection and arranging times for buyers to come by and pick pieces that they like (and then negotiating about cost, orders, mark-ups, mark-downs, etc.). I was told it was actually a very un-glamorous exercise but, although I wanted to believe her, it still sounded glamorous compared to my day job.

We be showroomin’

Observing these trendy types generally, it seems that it is still unfashionable to actually put your arms through the sleeves of your coat (even in winter). Instead your coat should be draped over your shoulders so that it flaps like a cape (see below). I find this puzzling: do they not get cold? Does the coat not fly off in strong wind?

Using arm holes is sah 2010

Also we can note from the above that this year cropped pants seem to be all the rage with the fashion set (and the hipster set for that matter), but importantly with NO socks, or, if deemed absolutely necessary, VERY short socks ONLY. Again, this rule applies even in winter. I also find puzzling: do they not get cold ankles?

Once you start noticing these fashion folk swanking about town, you brace yourself for all the things that inevitably come along with them.

First, the traffic gets worse. Uber goes into surge pricing, even at usually non-peak hours like 9.30am on a Wednesday (a perfectly reasonable time to head to the office, or so I like to think).

Uber uncool

Second, your regular running route through the Tuilieries/Louvre/Palais Royale is blocked because there is a fashion parade (défilé) on there.

When your running track turns into a runway

Third, your usual haunts (or at least the cool places you like to try to go to from time to time to feel cool) are suddenly full of fabulous fashion folk. Good luck getting a table at colette water bar during pfw, which is jam-packed with “ze people” sampling the 60+ types of mineral water on offer even at the best of times.

Fashion people gotta drink artesian water

Likewise, be prepared to wait extra long for your maki roll at Bob’s Juice Bar due to the influx of pfw’ers getting their acai bowl hit. And don’t even think about trying to get into the members-only and already über-difficult to get into Silencio on a Saturday night during pfw (see below).

Silenci-no gonna happen tonight. (Note also the lack of arm-hole use in the beige coat in the foreground)

Having said all of that, it’s also kind of awesome when the pfw circus rolls into town. It’s fun to see the crazy outfits go by in the street and to do the odd bit of celebrity spotting. It’s also cool to see how the big fashion houses dress up some of the monuments you’re used to seeing every day (my favourite being when Dior built a mound of bluebells in the Louvre courtyard last year). So all in all, pfw aint that bad. I’ve just got to work out how to wear my coat on my shoulders without it falling off.

*Credit for this blog idea to my friend Chris who is regularly inconvenienced by pfw but is not displeased by the presence of the Bambi-like models

I’m certainly not the first person to muse about this (nor will I be the last), but Parisians have a thing about black. Or, more precisely, they have a thing about not wearing too much colour.

I first learnt this from my former housemate (a lovely Parisian) who told me that you should not wear more than two colours at a time. So, me wearing a pink and grey chequered dress with a gold scarf and purple ballerina flats, “ça va pas quoi”. “You have to take off at least one colour before you leave the house,” I was told (in the nicest possible way).

This does not come naturally to me – I come from a country of bright colours and sunny prints (mister zimi being my favourite) where it is socially acceptable to wear clashing fluoro “active wear” almost all of the time (click here if you do not believe me).

But slowly, over the course of the years, I have found myself toning it down a notch. When I showed my purchases from the recent soldes to a girlfriend she commented that everything I had bought was black. “You’ve changed!” she said. Sure, it has something to do with the fact that we’re in winter at the moment (and it’s true that, even in Melbourne, people tend to wear darker colours in the colder months) but there’s got to be more to it than that.

So why is it that Parisians wear so much black? There are lots of theories – black is chic, timeless, slimming – all important things for Paris-folk. But it may come down to something about fitting in with the crowd. Parisians are not naturally extroverted when it comes to fashion. It is almost better to conform than to se faire remarquer (to be noticed). As one Parisian explained to me recently, there is comfort in wearing the same thing as everyone else – at least that way you know you’re not “Has-been” (an English phrase the French love to use, which is another blog post in itself).

Le not-so nouveau chic ?

There are, of course, exceptions to the rule. The most obvious (and my favourite) is the “red pants on Fridays” rule chez les mecs (for guys). At my office, on Fridays even the most conservative French males will wear red pants to signify the coming week-end. It’s like they’ve got one foot in the office and one foot in their country house(à la campagne), pastis in hand and ready for the first round of pétanque. It’s defiant, but then again it’s not that defiant, because everyone else is doing it.

Another example: we went to a beautiful country wedding of a dear Parisian friend a while ago. After a raucous, napkin-waving marquee reception on the Saturday night we were all invited back for a brunch on the Sunday morning. There was no official dress code. “What to wear?” my non-Parisian better half asked me. “Easy,” I said – “Coloured pants and a white collared shirt.” And boy was I right. We arrived to a sea of coloured slacks in every shade of the rainbow – red, pink, green, mustard, blue, you name it. Once again, the Parisians had nailed it – fitting in, but with just the right amount of colour to look at once chic and effortlessly décontracté (relaxed).

There are other signs of change in the air. The recent surge in popularity of CrossFit (I go to Reebok Crossfit Louvre and highly recommend it), competitive/social running groups (e.g. Boost Pigalle), boot camps (e.g. CYD) and outdoor exercising generally (vale the passing of La Gym Suédoise (Swedish Gym) and Aqua Biking, two exercise concepts that Parisians love but I never fully understood) has meant the active wear phenomenon has hit Paris with a vengeance. I was recently super excited to see that Lululemon – the cult Vancouver-based yoga and active wear company – has even opened its first showroom in the Marais. I was thus not surprised to see this shop window on my walk to work a few days ago:

Active wear, active wear, eating croissants in my active wear

Fluoro colours! Clashing colours! More than two colours! This was all good news for me. Only time will tell if the colour/fitness trend will suffer the same fate as the Dukan Diet and Minitel, or become a part of French life, even after it goes out of fashion in the rest of the world (ahem, rollerblading and razor scooters). For my sake and for the sake of all colour-loving expats in France, I sincerely hope for the latter.

*Credit for this blog idea to my friend Blake, a fellow colour-loving nearly-Parisian

Living in Paris you quickly learn that Sundays are rest days. Largely thanks to the ever-present unions, trading on Sundays is for the most part banned in France. Some people also cite respect for “traditional” family values as justifying the ban on trade, which makes some sense. But it is damned annoying when it’s Sunday night, you have run out of toilet paper and all you have in the fridge is a mouldy piece of comté.

In any event, this explains the eerie silence in the streets of Paris on Sunday mornings. Sundays in Paris are left for nursing hangovers, brunching, wandering, catching up with friends, sitting en terrasse, footing, going to expos and that wonderful gallic tradition of Sunday night ciné. Even I’ll admit that, despite the inconvenience, it’s nice that Sundays are left for family, friends and downtime.

That said, some areas of Paris have eluded the ban on trade, e.g., the marais,the historic Jewish quarter and super trendy place to be seen. It is largely business as usual in the marais on Sundays, the sabbath having passed. On top of that, the streets are pedestrianised. This means the marais is always buzzing with people out for their Sunday balade, eating falafel sandwiches (on that note, if you find yourself in the rue des rosiers and tempted to join the queue for a falafel, go directly to Miznon in rue des écouffes, see below if in doubt) and admiring the over-priced (yet totally worth it, boyfriend, if you are reading) clothes at Sandro, maje and Claudie Pierlot.

Poisson doré at Miznon. Hell. Yes.

Although the French government passed a law last year allowing further exceptions to the ban on Sunday trade (part of the Loi Macron, named after the French Minister for Finance, Emmanuel Macron, who proposed the law), finding a decent supermarket open on a Sunday remains damned near impossible.

Hence our excitement when the supermarket downstairs recently put up this sign:

Who would have thought one little piece of paper could change so much?

This was a game changer. Not only was the franprix open on Sunday, it was open on Sunday evening until 20h. No more going to the overpriced alimentation générale (the equivalent to a general store, or a milk bar for the Australian readers) to get toothpaste for the week. No more staring down the barrel of Monday morning with no breakfast goods. First world problems, certes, but little things that make the Sunday night blues that bit more bearable.